With today’s Iowa Caucus, the long slog to the 2020 Election is officially underway. In preparation for the General Election this November, West Virginia will become the first state to allow people with disabilities to vote with their smartphones.

Joshua Spence, West Virginia’s chief technology officer, is pushing for an additional $4.5 million in funding to launch a program that would allow his office to compare and analyze the cybersecurity risks currently facing state agencies. The bill Spence is lobbying for, called the Secure WV Act, would enable legislators to get a more in-depth understanding of the state’s current risks and how best to mitigate them in the future.

Through collaboration, conversations, and expertise, the West Virginia Broadband Enhancement Council has helped to bring faster internet connectivity to the state through both traditional and nontraditional internet providers, as members of the council discussed on November 14 at Bloomberg’s Next.2018 event.

In Tuesday’s midterm election, a total of 144 West Virginians living abroad voted in the largest-ever blockchain-based voting pilot.

The Center for Data Innovation (CDI), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, recently released “The Best States for Data Innovation,” a new report analyzing how states are using data to innovate and offer new services. Topping the overall list were Massachusetts, Washington, and Maryland. Rounding out the bottom were Mississippi, West Virginia, and Louisiana.

21st Century State & Local conducted an exclusive Q&A with John Dunlap, West Virginia’s newly minted chief technology officer, to see how he plans to address the IT issues that confront his state.

A majority of voters are likely going to have to deal with very old technology on Nov. 8. A recent study showed that up to 43 states are planning to use voting machines that are at least 10 years old, with some moving forward with 20- or 30-year-old systems. Virginia, however, spent $28 million in 2014 to upgrade all of its machines across the state.

Military and overseas citizens face extra challenges when voting, and the threat of ballot hacking shouldn’t be one of them. Overseas voters have the option of emailing their ballots, which increase the likelihood that they could be hacked.